Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Tuesday, December 15

Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
Psalm 80:3

I always enjoyed participating in the Christmas Gift program at Artman. I would receive the name of a resident with some suggested gift requests, and was asked to purchase and wrap the gift for them to receive at Christmas. Since both of my parents have died and entered the Kingdom of God, I thought this would be a nice way of remembering and honoring them at Christmas.

One year, I was eager to receive the gift request. What interesting items would they want? When I received the name of my resident and their gift request I was a bit surprised. Batteries! He wanted batteries in two specific sizes. I admit that I was a little bummed out because it was not very creative or exciting. Bit I complied and got batteries. And I got creative in the wrapping of the gift.

After Christmas, I talked with a staff member who told me how thrilled the resident was to receive the batteries. He now had a big enough supply that he didn’t worry about burning them out. I gave him a lot!

This verse from Psalm 80 put this into perspective. “Let YOUR face shine.” God let me know what it would take to bring a smile to this resident’s face. I wasn’t bummed out anymore. It wasn’t about what I thought would be a good gift. It was about letting God use me to celebrate his Son’s birth by bringing joy to someone else.

Gracious God, may people see your face shine through the ways you use me to do your work. Amen.

Rev. Bruce Todd serves as pastor of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Lafayette Hill and on the Advancement Committee of Liberty Lutheran.